Despite the changing trends and algorithms in social media, the importance of content in promoting your brand remains steadfast. Regardless of the marketing channel or strategy employed, the adequate execution of your campaign requires some form of content. Thus, even as approaches and channels transition, content remains essential in driving success.
Content marketing trends constantly evolve over time in response to changes in consumer behavior, preferences, and market shifts.
To effectively utilize content marketing for your brand promotion, it is vital to keep up with the latest trends. This will help you stay competitive by either keeping up with or surpassing your rivals. Our prediction for 2023 is that these content marketing trends will reign supreme.
1. There will be a bigger focus on quality over quantity
At one time, how often content was published influenced social media algorithms and search engine rankings to some extent. This led brands to regularly release large amounts of content in order to improve their visibility on social media and search engines.
Due to constraints on time or resources, numerous individuals might have felt compelled to continue producing content even if they could not keep pace. Consequently, their content quality would have likely declined, which did not benefit them in any way.
By 2023, there will be an increased emphasis on directing attention toward the content production procedure to ensure that it’s more effective and of superior quality. Brands will no longer attempt to create a large number of low-quality or average pieces of content that they can’t keep up with but rather concentrate on enhancing the quality of their content.
2. Content marketing will become more data-led
With the growing need to produce superior content that caters to specific audiences, brands will once again become interested in data.
Even though it may be challenging as cross-app tracking is prohibited by Google and Apple mandates brands to seek permission from users for IDFA identifier tracking, content marketers can rely on first-party data for valuable insights to inform their content strategies.
By using data to shape your content marketing approach, you can tailor your content to suit the specific requirements of diverse audience segments. This will enable you to better tackle their challenges and move them closer towards making a buying choice.
In order to meet the growing demand for first-party data, content marketing teams will have to dedicate more time to develop measurement strategies that are effective. This might require a significant change in the way performance is currently evaluated, especially since GA4 is scheduled to take the place of Universal Analytics in July 2023, providing more advanced measurement features.
3. AI-Powered content marketing will grow in popularity
The content marketing landscape is being impacted by the rapidly evolving AI technology. An example of this is the use of AI by Google’s RankBrain algorithm to better match search results to searchers.
AI tools are now available that can write articles and create complex visuals without human intervention. Though this technology can assist marketers in generating abundant content, its ethical and sustainable implications are still a topic of discussion.
Reportedly, Google’s John Mueller has labeled content created by AI as “spam.” This categorization is not in alignment with the company’s webmaster guidelines, which suggests that Google will likely develop a strategy to address and regulate the use of AI-generated content. Therefore, many content marketers who are prudent remain reluctant to use these tools to produce content.
Nonetheless, the increasing appeal of AI-based tools for supporting other elements of content marketing remains undiminished. For instance, applications such as Grammarly and Wordtune can facilitate the refinement of your content.
MarketMuse is a tool that uses AI for aiding in content planning, competitor analysis, keyword research, and content briefing. Additionally, it provides content analysis and optimization suggestions to improve your overall authority.
4. Social commerce will be influenced by shoppable content.
Social commerce has received considerable attention from social media platforms in recent years, resulting in the development of tools and functionalities that provide a smoother purchasing experience. As a result, companies can now establish social media marketplaces and generate purchasable material, streamlining the user experience by enabling them to purchase goods without exiting the application.
By 2023, the widespread use of shoppable content will have a significant impact on social commerce. Brands will increasingly incorporate product tags into their social media posts, giving customers the ability to learn more about the item or purchase it directly on the platform. This not only streamlines the buying process, but also enhances the brand’s overall customer experience.
Despite lacking the checkout button option within social media, brands can still reap significant advantages from utilizing the shoppable content feature. This feature enables them to generate more website traffic, potentially resulting in higher conversions. Barbour, as an example, experienced a 98% boost in their site traffic from Instagram and a 42% increase in their sales following the creation of shoppable posts.
In addition to using organic shoppable posts, brands will become more familiar with using shoppable content in their paid promotions. This will entail presenting shoppable posts as paid ads, enabling brands to reach out to potential customers who have not yet followed their brand on social media. In essence, these ads will enable people to go from the discovery phase to the conversion phase in one quick step.
5. Podcasts will see a steady rise
Podcasts have become a favorite means of consuming content for individuals who enjoy multitasking, and this trend is set to continue until 2023. Based on current statistics, there are over 2 million podcasts, and about 420 million individuals listening to them.
As these podcasts gain more and more fans, brands are beginning to understand the significant advertising potential they provide. This year, U.S. marketers are projected to spend over $2 billion on podcast advertisements, and the industry is expected to be valued at $4 billion by 2024.
If your brand has not yet integrated podcasts into its content marketing plan, taking advantage of their popularity to amplify your reach in 2023 could be a wise decision. This may mean producing your own podcast material, being featured on another podcast, or using podcast advertisements to promote your products.
To stay ahead of the competition, it’s time to enhance your current podcast strategy. You may want to try different formats (such as interviews and Q&A sessions) to determine what’s effective, and be sure to test various lengths in order to refine your strategy.
To increase your podcast’s exposure and broaden your audience, consider inviting guests with significant influence. It is crucial to continually adjust and fine-tune your tactics to maximize the benefits of your podcast endeavors. This way, you can increase your ROI and achieve optimal results.
6. Strategic SEO
Ever since Google came into being, SEO has been of great significance. However, simply incorporating numerous keywords in a blog post or optimizing tags is not enough to qualify as SEO. The present-day search engines are becoming much more intelligent, thereby demanding a modification of your SEO strategy towards future standards.
Your SEO strategy needs to be reevaluated if you truly desire a high search ranking, even though this content marketing trend may pose challenges.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, prioritize writing for people instead of search engines, as search engines have already determined what users are looking for.
Currently, numerous marketers prioritize producing superior and apt content that caters to their customers’ needs. The approach is to utilize strategic keywords to appear on the first page and rely on the content’s quality to naturally raise its ranking on Google.
Rather than aiming to rank for a query through excessive keyword usage, it is important to establish oneself as an expert on a particular subject. Endeavor to offer top-notch information on the topic at hand. Rather than simply tracking your URL ranking, pay attention to your click-through rates and engagement measurements. Those are the factors that search engines prioritize in 2023.
7. Content-powered revenue
By 2023, content will not only serve as a branding tactic or a technique to attract customers to your sales funnel. Brands will employ it to generate income, signifying that they’re not solely a brand, but also a media organization and an influencer.
Consider content creation as an autonomous unit of the enterprise that offers its own means of generating revenue. Your premium content can bring in profits, either by charging membership fees or earning from the TikTok creator fund, among other options.
Approach this as if you are starting a new business. This could entail:
- Creating a thoughtful strategy that funnels users to paying for content, not just your products
- Rolling out shoppable content that allows customers to make a purchase directly from a piece of content
- Setting and tracking performance KPIs for content marketing efforts and treating it as seriously as you would ad spend
8. Value-driven content made for customers
In 2023, ensure that your content caters to customer needs and enhances their experience, as creating content that goes unnoticed is no longer acceptable. With an abundance of content being produced by brands, users have limited time and will only engage with content that delivers tangible value. Therefore, prioritizing helpful and meaningful content is crucial.
The solution is customization which enables you to personalize content according to the desires and necessities of particular customers. This approach ensures that you present valuable content to the audience that benefits the most.
Without data, it’s impossible to achieve this. Therefore, use a smart CRM or data solution to monitor your audience’s requirements and plan a content strategy that truly caters to their interests.
9. User experience matters
User experience has always been important, but the expectations of consumers have risen significantly. Even if your content is exceptional, a user will not engage if the experience is inadequate.
It is necessary to give priority to the user experience concerning:
- Page speed
- Mobile performance
- Cohesive style and voice
- Image placement
- Image quality
The provision of customized solutions to customers also plays a crucial role here. By delivering content that caters to their major concerns, you can enhance their experience. To determine which UX modifications are significant, conduct A/B tests. To obtain information on which features your audience prefers, ensure that you test only one variable at a time.
10. High-quality researched content
The public is worried about fake news and incorrect information. Simply uttering a claim is insufficient as people desire proof supported by evidence. That’s why they yearn for excellent, meticulously researched material. The inclusion of infographics brings an additional layer of sophistication and flair that is sure to capture the interest of consumers.
Composing content that is founded on another company’s research is acceptable, however, your content automatically attains an advantage by having its own internal resources. Furthermore, your research can be cited by other websites as a source, resulting in a substantial enhancement in your SEO and credibility.
Creating white papers or conducting surveys for your brand requires effort, but it is a potent strategy. According to 48% of marketers, research reports yielded the most favorable outcome among all content marketing initiatives in 2021.
11. Consistency matters
While ensuring the quality of content is essential, it is also important to maintain a consistent publishing schedule. Although it may be challenging to maintain a high posting frequency while focusing on quality, it is crucial to find a balance. Fortunately, it is not necessary to upload new content daily; as long as you prioritize quality and consistently post at a regular interval, your content will yield desirable outcomes.
Brands and institutions faced a significant erosion of trust from consumers amid the pandemic. Currently, consumers highly value consistency and are yearning for regular content creation. It is crucial to avoid setting expectations for new content delivery and then failing to deliver, as this can lead to disappointment among users.
It’s recommended that your brand publishes several posts every month to ensure that the content is of high quality and to remain relevant to potential customers. However, if your content team is capable of managing a higher pace, then that’s acceptable. But be cautious not to overburden your team or your audience with an excessive amount of content. Achieving a balance is key for the year 2023.
Side notes
Content marketing will experience a prosperous year in 2023, regardless of how technology and consumer expectations evolve. It is imperative for brands to prioritize adding a more personal touch to the digital experience.
Make a plan to incorporate these 10 trends into your content calendar for 2023. Employ content as a source of revenue, make an earnest effort towards researching and analyzing data, explore podcasting, utilize AI, and maintain consistency. While content marketing can be challenging, prioritizing quality will help your brand to improve its competitiveness and engagement with audiences.
